Monte S. Nyman's latest commentaries: 2 volumes on the D&C

"Doctrine & Covenants Commentary, Volume 1: More Precious than Gold," and Volume 2, "It Came From God," by Monte S. Nyman. Granite Publishing


The latest work by Mormon author Monte S. Nyman is a Doctrine and Covenants commentary that is being released by Granite Publishing & Distribution.

The commentary is in two volumes: "Doctrine & Covenants Commentary, Vol. 1: More Precious than Gold," which covers through section 70. "Doctrine & Covenants Volume 2: It Came From God" covers sections 71-138.

Nyman's experience writing scripture commentaries is extensive. He has published a six-volume Book of Mormon commentary and five commentaries on Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, and the 12 prophets at the end of the Old Testament, Hosea through Malachi. He has also written two books on the Book of Mormon. Granite says Nyman plans to continue publishing commentaries until he has covered every volume of LDS scripture.

Nyman quotes the Prophet Joseph Smith in the introduction of the first volume and the flyleaf of the second volume: "The Doctrine and Covenants is our book. It was written to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was revealed to us, not to another dispensation and then passed down as was the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and most of all the Pearl of Great Price."

Though it might be common for a reader to turn to a commentary in search of a particular doctrine or passage of verses, the two volumes' construction also gives them a format friendly to reading chapter to chapter. Nyman even suggests portions that might be skipped in each chapter for a reader who is continuing from chapter to chapter.

Each chapter has a topical name and may cover more than one section of the Doctrine and Covenants and begins with a summary of the historical setting for the section or sections discussed in the chapter. Next, an introduction to the chapter is what Nyman describes as a "starting point for the reader as he or she begins to study the chapter. For a teacher it is an attention getter to focus the students on the subject for that class period."

An outline of the revelations in the chapter follows; then in Notes and Commentary, "segments of the text of the revelation are quoted, followed by comments, cross references and explanations for a better understanding of the message of those verses," Nyman says in the book's introduction. "The last section is a selection of quotations from various presidents of the church, apostles and other general authorities."

Granite is currently direct-selling the volumes from its Web site, www.granitebooks.com, and expects the volumes will be offered at other retail and online booksellers by the end of July.